Old/New Testament
The coming of the son of man
29 “Straight away,” Jesus continued, “after the suffering that those days will bring,
The sun will turn to darkness,
and the moon won’t give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven will shake.
30 “And then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven; then all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see ‘the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. 31 He will send off his messengers with a great trumpet-blast, and they will collect his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 “Learn the hidden meaning from the fig tree. When its branch begins to sprout, and to push out its leaves, then you know that summer is nearly there. 33 So with you: when you see all these things, you will know that it is near, at the very gates. 34 I’m telling you the truth: this generation won’t be gone before all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never, ever disappear.”
The unexpected coming
36 “Nobody knows what day or time this will happen,” Jesus went on. “The angels in heaven don’t know it, and nor does the son; only the father knows. 37 You see, the royal appearing of the son of man will be like the days of Noah.
38 “What does that mean? Well, in those days, before the flood, they were eating and drinking, they were getting married and giving children in marriage, right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. 39 They didn’t know about it until the flood came and swept them all away. That’s what it’ll be like at the royal appearing of the son of man.
40 “On that day there will be two people working in the field. One will be taken, the other will be left. 41 There will be two women grinding corn in the mill. One will be taken, the other will be left.
42 “So keep alert! You don’t know what day your master will come. 43 But bear this in mind: if the householder had known what time of night the burglar was going to come, he would have stayed awake and wouldn’t have let his house get broken into. 44 So you too must be ready! The son of man is coming at a time you don’t expect.”
The wise and wicked slaves
45 “So,” Jesus went on, “who then is the trustworthy and sensible slave, the one the master will set over his household, so that he will give them their meals at the right time? 46 Blessings on the servant whom the master finds doing just that when he comes. 47 I’m telling you the truth: he’ll promote him to be over all his property. 48 But if the wicked slave says in his heart, ‘My master’s taking his time,’ 49 and starts to beat the other slaves, and to feast and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day he doesn’t expect, and at a time he doesn’t know. 51 He will cut him in two, and put him along with the hypocrites, where people will weep and grind their teeth.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.